Why teach classes? The aim of Naturopathic Medicine is to teach people how to get well and stay well. Unlike conventional healthcare which strives to manage symptoms with drug therapy, surgery, etc... Naturopathic Medicine strives to make you genuinely well so you don't NEED to take things to feel good. This can be drugs, herbs or any variety of natural substances.... if you are taking it to alleviate symptoms and not addressing underlying causes...it's NOT Naturopathic!
Classes transfer the tools of healthcare to the consumer! Physicians dispense drugs and surgery... 'agents' of health creating a dependency relationship where you feel you NEED physicians to be healthy. Naturopathic Medicine puts the tools of health in YOUR hands (after all it's healthcare, NOT rocket science, right?). Although this increases the responsibility of the patient and requires an investment in education (classes, mentoring, experience),.... it fosters self sufficiency. And then physicians can be free to use their skill solving more complicated problems that require more knowledge than a non-medical person would have. In other words, making a business of promoting self sufficiency in healthcare will NOT put you out of business as a physician!
Another reason classes are essential is because of individuality! In conventional healthcare, treatment focuses on the diagnosis because naming a disease and matching it with a drug is the promotion of healthcare today. But Naturopathic treatment focuses on PEOPLE, and what a particular disease says about your unique constitution. We want to know what is happening so we can solve the problems. Another way to think of allopathic medicine is 'Cookbook Medicine'... you have a symptom and look up what takes it away (equally dysfunctional for Rx drugs, OTC drugs, Herbs, supplements, and other natural substances) and everyone who has that symptom is treated with one of a few options. But in Naturopathic Medicine, we ask: Why? Why you? Why now? Why this? These questions address innate sensitivities or weaknesses, lifestyle choices that may not promote wellbeing, and external influences that harm the body. Without asking these questions, Drugs (or herbs) become substances to cover up poor choices and ignore essential issues while overall vitality continues to decline. Classes give people the knowledge to make day to day choices that BUILD good health by customizing healthcare to work for an individual.
Lastly classes create a teaching environment, a mentorship relationship, where a beginner in the art of healing can pair up with an experienced healer who shares knowledge. Passing along a knowledge of healthcare is the point of medicine.
Naturopathic Medicine is a more complete path to wellness.... And it's goal is EXCEPTIONAL HEALTH brought about and maintained by knowledge and self responsibility.
